The Shadow Exploded
by Priestess Adularia
Summary: Raven is the unhappiest girl in the world. Her fellow schoolmates hate her, her mother mistreats her, her father never knew her. But what no one knows is that she has powers. And one day she's going to be pushed too far...RavenXRobin RobinXStarfire
1. Dirtypillows

Priestess Adularia: _Carrie _is one of my two favorite books in, I don't know, the entire stinking _world,_ and the movie rocked, too! So I decided, what the Hell? If it reminds me of anything, it makes me think of Teen Titans. This first part was in the book only, not the movie, but the rest you'll recognize if you've seen Carrie. And if you haven't, watch it anyway!

«§Ж§»

**The Shadow Exploded**

_Directed by Priestess Adularia_

**Featuring: **

_Arella_ (Angela Roth) as **Margaret White**_  
Starfire_ (Stella Andrews) as **Sue Snell  
**_Robin_ (Richard Grayson) as **Tommy Ross**  
_Bumblebee_ (Sarah Charles) as **Ms. Collins**  
_Blackfire_ (Carol Andrews) as **Christine Hargenson**  
_Mammoth_ (Real name unknown) as **Billy Nolan  
**_Jinx_ (Real name also unknown) as **Nora**  
_Cyborg_ (Victor Stone) as **Principal**  
_Beast Boy_ (Garfield Logan) as **Idiot on Bicycle**  
_Mad Mod_ (Real name unknown) as **Dumb Teacher  
**_Huntress_(Helena Wayne) as **Estelle Horan **

**_And…_**

_Raven_ (Raven Roth) as **Carrie White **

«§Ж§»

_"Is it over?" Beast Boy was crying into his pillow._  
_"It wasn't that scary," stated Raven in her usual monotone voice.  
"It was so sad," Starfire wailed. "Why did the sweet irl Carrie die? And at the end_…_" she began to sob.  
"I think it was awful."  
All heads turned to Robin.  
"I hated it," he stated. "It was cruel to pigs, popular kids, unpopular kids, teachers, principals, mothers, religious people, and telekinetic people."  
All heads turned to Raven.  
"What did you think, Ray?" asked Cyborg.  
"I loved it," Raven stated firmly. "I think you would have to have been crazy not to."  
"Oh_…_" Robin trailed off. "In that case, wasn't it the best movie you've ever seen? _

«§Ж§»

"But…" Helena Wayne began.

"'But' nothing," her mother Selina replied. "There's no reason why you can't enjoy the privacy of our own back yard. Get all the sun you can."

Helena, her mom Selina, her dad Bruce, and their butler Alfred lived next door to Angela Roth and her daughter Raven. Helena had a habit of sunbathing, and Angela—whose hedge hadn't grown out yet—had called dozens of times to complain about the 'show' she was 'putting on' in their backyard.

Helena's bathing suit was perfectly decent, but Mrs. Roth would go on and on about what a scandal it was for 'her baby.' Selina was a patient woman, but she had an awful temper, and when Angela called her daughter the 'Whore of Babylon' she lost it completely and called Angela a dirty old woman with a can of worms for a brain and said Helena could go around buck-naked if she wanted because it was her backyard.

Helena wanted to stop sunbathing right then, but Selina was a stubborn woman. And now she had bought Helena a tiny little bathing suit and Helena's protests that she didn't want to be a pawn in a backyard fence war did no good.

So there she was on a Sunday afternoon, covered in suntan lotion and listening to Linkin Park. Selina hated rock music, but today she turned it on herself. Helena was really beginning to feel like a Whore of Babylon.

But no one came out, and Helena started to relax. _I guess they're at Church._

After a while, she fell asleep.

«§Ж§»

When she woke up, a beautiful little girl was staring down at her. Helena stared back. The girl was tiny and pale and perfect, with huge sloe eyes that were almost purple. She was wearing a little black dress, kind of cute but awfully long for a little girl in the summer.

Sweet was the only word that fit. Sweet and bright and innocent. Her mother's sickness hadn't touched her very deeply then.

Not yet.

Helena smiled. "Hi."

The girl, Raven Roth, didn't smile back. Even then, her face was as impassive as a marble statue. "What are those?" she asked, in a tiny pretty little voice.

Helena glanced down, and her cheeks flushed. Her top had slipped while she was asleep. Fixing it hurriedly, she replied, "Those are my breasts, Raven."

Very solemn, she replied, "I wish I had some."

"You have to wait, Raven. You won't have them for, oh, another eight or nine years."

Raven shook her head. "No I won't. Mommy says good girls don't." Now she looked half-sad and half self-righteous. It wasn't as unnerving as the blank mask, but it was just as strange.

Helena gaped at her, and the first words that popped into her mind popped out of her mouth: "Well, I'm a good girl. And your mother has breasts, doesn't she?"

She lowered her head and murmured something so soft Helena couldn't hear.

"Would you repeat that, please?"

Raven lifted her head, and now she looked defiant. Helena wondered if she had ever smiled like a normal little kid.

"Mommy was bad when she made me. That's why she has dirtypillows."

Helena couldn't believe it. She was dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she wanted nothing more than to grab that sad little scrap of a girl and run away with her.

They just stared at each other, until Angela Roth walked out the door.

For a moment she just stared, stunned. Raven looked like she was going to faint. Her face went gray. Helena wanted to die.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Helena jumped to her feet. "She didn't do anything wrong! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

Angela didn't hear her. She was screaming about sluts and sins. Raven ran over to her, and Angela scooped up the child and ran into the house. But before she did, Raven glanced back at Helen. Her face was full of hate and fear and longing and most of all _misery._

It was as if all the sorrows of the world had fallen on her like stones.

And she was only three.


	2. Plug It Up

Priestess Adularia: I'm somewhat disappointed that this wasn't that popular, but oh, well. I changed the cast slightly. Terra ( Tara) is the character Norma, yada-yada-yada.

«§Ж§»

**Rain of** **Stones Reported **

_It was reliably reported_ _by several persons that  
a rain of stones fell out_ _of a clear blue sky on  
August 17._ _The stones fell principally on the  
home of Mrs. Angela Roth,_ _damaging the roof  
extensively but ruining two_ _of the gutters and a  
downspout valued at approximately $50. Mrs.  
Roth lives alone with her three_-_year_-_old daughter  
Raven. _

«§Ж§»

"Over!"

Girls in black shorts and yellow tees jumped about, batting at a ball. A whistle shriek pierced the air, loud and shrill.

"Game point: 14-15, this team serves!"

The volleyball game was almost over, and one of them had an idea that, thus far, had always worked. "Throw it to Raven, she'll blow it!"

They were speaking of a slender girl at the back of the group wearing gray lipstick and eye shadow which made her look paler. Unlike the others, she stood without moving. Her pale face wore an expression of boredom, her huge eyes staring impassively ahead.

"Don't blow it Raven!" shouted a blonde girl with flashing blue eyes.

"Hit it!"

Usually she would do nothing, but now it was aiming right at her. She flapped an arm aimlessly, and the ball bounced away. A chorus of groans filled the air.

"Raven!"

"You blew it again!"

Their gym teacher, a black curly-haired woman with full red lips and a slim figure, blew a whistle. "All right, that's a wrap."

Raven stood dully as the girls passed her. The blonde, Tara, smacked her on the back of the head with her hat as she passed.

"We'll never win with her on the team," a girl sneered.

"Look at her!" a second agreed.

"Even in normal clothes she looks satanic," another girl said with something of a smirk.

As she passed her, Caron Andrews, a pale girl with thin eyes and long strait black hair, turned and snarled, "You eat shit."

Raven hardly reacted. She had heard it all.

"Come on, Raven, we don't have all day," Ms. Charles stated.

"One second," she responded. When she was sure they were all gone, she turned her large captivating eyes to the ball. It lifted in the air and leapt over the net.

«§Ж§»

"—well, Speedy said he _hated_ it on me but—"

"—my sister's boyfriend picks his nose—"

"—shower after school and—"

"—too cheap to spend a goddamn penny so—"

The locker room was filled with laughter, chatting, and the sound of water splashing on tile. Girls stretched and writhed in the showers, chatting, flicking water, squirting white bars of soap from hand to hand. They were like swans. Raven stood stolidly among them, ignoring stares. She could out-stare any of them.

Showers were turned off one by one, girls stepping out, toweling, applying deodorant, checking the clock over the door. Steam hung in the air, so much so that the place might have been an Egyptian bathhouse.

As Caron passed her sister Stella, she whipped her with a towel. Stella, who was trying to work a comb through her long red hair, giggled sweetly.

Raven was the last to come out. She had a cross necklace, and a raven was tattooed on her back. Under it was an image of _Anima Sola,_ the Lonely Soul.

_"Period!"_

The catcall came from Caron Andrews as usual. "Hey Tara, Raven's got her period."

Raven stood emotionlessly in the middle of a growing circle, water rolling off her skin in beads, aware that the joke was on her as always but uncertain as to how.

"Have a tampon, Raven," said Caron, laughing as she threw a tampon.

It struck her in the chest and fell with a plop at her feet. A red flower stained the absorbent cotton. Dark drops of menstrual blood struck the tile in dime-sized drops.

"She thinks they're for lipstick!" yelled Kitten Moss with cryptic glee, then burst into shrieking laughter.

"Hey, clean it up!" shouted Tara with hoarse, uninhibited abandon. She opened the broken dispenser on the wall and grabbed tampons and pads, passing them around. "Plug it up! Plug it up!"

It was becoming a chant, an incantation. Stella, opening her locker, grabbed her pads and threw them as well, also screaming, "Plug it up, plug it up, plug it up, plug it up!" All the while, a little voice in her head assured her, _there's no harm in it really no harm in it really no harm really no harm_…

After a point, Sarah Charles seemed to notice what was going on. Standing up and entering the locker room, she attempted to get through a ring of girls shrieking, "Plug it up!" over and over again.

Stella, always a good kid, was standing somewhat behind the rest. Ms. Charles grabbed Stella by the shoulder and shook her. "What are you doing?"

"Raven's got her period," she replied, laughing.

"Who's got her period?"

"Raven!"

_"What are you doing?"_ she bellowed.

But even she couldn't stop it. The laughter, contemptuous and disgusted, had risen and bloomed into something jagged and ugly. Raven stood blankly as she was bombarded with tampons and pads. The blood was almost black and terribly heavy, both her legs were splattered with it.

A tampon hit her thigh, and she glanced down.

A horrible scream filled the air, silencing the chants. There was a bright flash overhead, followed by a pop as a bulb sizzled and went out.

During all her years of torment—her was bed short-sheeted at Christian youth camp and she slept on the floor, a love letter was copied and passed to the entire school, thousands upon thousands of insults that she never reacted to, obscene photos in her locker that she never seemed to hear, peanut butter in her hair when she fell asleep that she washed out, her clothes being stolen during Gym, a snake in her shoe that she became friends with, pinches until she was bruised that didn't even react a wince, legs outstretched to trip her that she always stepped over, Kitten asking her if she knew that ravens were satanic—Raven had never revealed a shred of emotion.

Now she screamed like a banshee, her arms flailing uselessly, her tiny white feet slipping against blood and water as she backed into a corner and dropped to her knees.

For a long, long moment no one spoke. Raven's hysterical shrieks had tapered off into nothing. She sat, arms limp, staring into space.

It was Tara who finally ventured, "I think this is the first time she…"

She trailed off, but it was enough to bring Ms. Charles out of her shocked state. She whirled on the girls. "All of you," she hissed harshly. "This isn't a pep rally. Get out!"


	3. Creepy Crow

Priestess Adularia: Still not very popular, but whatever. Thank you to those who _did_ review. And for those who haven't seen/read _Carrie,_ I assure you you'll still understand the majority of it.

To** SugarDevil:** That made a minimal amount of sense, but here goes nothing…  
Well, Carrie's mom is a religious freak who, if you haven't noticed, hates breasts big or small. Also, I don't think chest size matters because most moms would be upset about a dress where the nipples stick out…  
In the book, Carrie wears baggy clothes that do hide her breasts and they are very big unlike in the movie.

«§Ж§»

From _Nevermore, _Pg. 41:

_Both medical and psychological writers on the subject are in agreement that the exceptionally late and undeniably traumatic commencement of Raven Roth's_ _first menstrual cycle may well have provided the trigger for the horror that was the prom.  
It seems inconceivable that, at the age of sixteen, Raven should know nothing of the woman's monthly cycle._ _It is nearly as incredible that Mrs. Roth would permit her daughter to reach this age without consulting a gynecologist on her daughter's menstruation.  
But the facts are irrefutable. Raven was entirely innocent to the concept of menstruation, and her first period resulted in hysterics.  
According to ex_-_principle Victor Stone, his now_-_dead fiancée Sarah Charles told him Raven believed she was bleeding to death.  
Survivor Stella Andrews states that fellow student Kitten Moss, daughter of bug expert Collin Moss, had come into the locker room one day and seen Raven blotting her lipstick with a tampon. Stella is believed by some experts to be a liar or insane_…_  
If anyone tried to inform Raven of the true use of tampons, it is more than likely that she expected it to be an attempt at trickery.  
Considering everything, it is hard to blame her_…

«§Ж§»

The hallway was thankfully empty. Lockers hung open, contents strewn across the ground. Raven sat on a bench outside the teacher's office, meditating silently.

Two Spanish twins, Matt and Paul, were walking by. Everybody knew Matt and Paul, they were the stars of the school track team.

"And my locker just _slammed_ open, everything flew out. I couldn't make it close!"

"That happened to everyone."

They glanced at Raven.

"Hey, look!" said one of them. Paul, she thought. "It's the witch!"

Both of them laughed. The one who hadn't spoken—Matt—gave her the finger.

She shot them a glare as they walked past her. Suddenly, all the lockers slammed shut. One hit Paul, who slammed into Matt. They skidded across the ground.

Raven dropped her head to the fists clenched in her lap, breathing hard.

«§Ж§»

"Isn't she a bit old for her first period?"

The man speaking was Victor Stone, school principal who happened to be engaged to Ms. Charles. Though bald, he still retained the muscular figure he had possessed as a child. He had been Olympic material until an accident killed his parents. Because of the accident, he had to wear an eye patch. But his good eye was bright blue and friendly.

"I know," replied Sarah Charles. "But it was."

"And she had no idea what was going on? That's…"

"Incredible? Impossible? Inconceivable? Knowing that mother of hers, it's no surprise. Vic, she thought she was bleeding to death."

"But she's all right now?"

"Yes. She seems quite bitter, though. She said they threw things. Laughed at her. She said they _always_ laughed."

Vic's eyebrows rose up to his nonexistent hairline. "They really laughed at her?"

"Worse. When I came in they were chanting, 'plug it up!' and throwing tampons and sanitary napkins like…like _peanuts." _

"Oh dear. You have names?"

"Not all of them. Carol Andrews seemed to be the ringleader."

"As usual. Let me guess, Tara Markov and Kitten Moss?"

"Of course. And Carol's sister, Stella." She frowned. "You wouldn't expect this from Stella. She's never seemed the type for this sort of a—a stunt."

"Did you talk to the girls involved?"

"I told them to get the Hell out. Raven was screaming like no tomorrow. I've never heard her scream before, you know. She barely ever speaks."

"Do you plan to talk to them?"

"I plan to rip them down one side and up the other. By the way, a light bulb blew out. It added the final touch. Also, I think Raven should be allowed to go home."

"Of course." He turned to his secretary. "I need a dismissal slip for Ruth Dove?"

"Raven Roth."

"Right."

Ms. Charles walked to the door and opened it. "Come in, Raven."

Raven stood up and entered. She was dressed now, and very strangely. She wore a black turtleneck, a very long blue skirt, a blue jacket, black tights, and blue boots. It seemed as if someone had wanted to hide every part of her body but her face.

"Do you need a ride, Sparrow?" he asked kindly, trying to ignore her unnerving stare. She had the biggest, saddest, fiercest eyes he had ever seen. And what an unusual color!

She shook her head, turning her gaze to the heavy ceramic mug on his desk. It was beginning to wobble.

"Are you sure, Peacock? We can call a cab if you need one."

The slip was brought, and he signed it.

"I'm sure _Raven_ will be all right." Ms. Charles pointedly accented the _Raven_. "The fresh air will do her some good." She turned to Raven. "You don't have to go to gym for a week, all right? Just go to study hall instead."

She nodded sullenly.

Victor handed her the dismissal slip. "You can go now, Rachel."

"Raven," she hissed. The mug toppled to the carpet and shattered. Victor cursed, and Sarah dropped to pick it up.

"Now, what was that, Ribbon?"

_"It's Raven!"_

The snow globe exploded, water spraying everywhere. The windows exploded as well, sending bits of glass flying across the floor. Raven turned and stormed out.

«§Ж§»

Her head was bowed, not in submission but in petulance, and she tried to think of nothing. Cramps came and went in great gripping waves, making her slow down and speed up like a car with carburetor trouble.

_They all hate me._ _All of them._ _They_ _never stop hating._ _Never stop laughing_…

She stared at the sidewalk, at quartz glittering in the cement, ghostly rain-faded hopscotch grids, wads of gums stamped flat, candy wrappers, and pieces if tinfoil.

_Imagine Caron Andrews_ _all bloody, screaming for mercy. _

She kicked a penny lodged in a crack.

_Imagine bugs crawling all over Kitten._

She rolled a rock with her foot

_Crash in _ _Tara__'s head with a boulder._

She stepped over dog turd with a footprint in it.

_"Savior Jesus meek and mild."_

That was all right for Mother, but she didn't have to spend every day in a carnival of hyenas. And hadn't she said that there would be a Day of Judgment and an angel with a sword?

If only it would be today. If only Jesus could appear, not a lamb with a shepherd's crook but a terrible screaming Jesus with a sword of blood and righteousness.

If only she could be His sword.

«§Ж§»

Lula Andrews was watching a sappy romance which ended in a vicious betrayal, when there was a knock on the door.

Opened it so see a slim beautiful woman dressed in black, with full red lips and long strait hair. She was smiling, but her almond-shaped eyes were narrow.

"Oh, hello, Miss Roth."

"How are you, Mrs. Andrews?"

"I'm well."

"And the children?"

"They're fine."

There was an awkward silence. "Come in, Miss Roth."

"Thank you."

"I hear Raven is in some of my daughters' classes?"

Her face tensed slightly, but she nodded.

"Well, maybe sometime she could visit."

"I'm here on the Lord's work, Mrs. Andrews. Spreading the gospel of Christ's salvation." A zealous light came into her eyes when she spoke of the Lord.

"Yes, of course."

"I think I have something that would interest you." She lifted a book. _"The Teenager's Path through The Cross of Christ."_

Lula forced a smile, but she had to say: "I don't think my kids would be very interested."

Angela Roth gave her a stern look. "The children are wandering through the wilderness of sin these days, Mrs. Andrews."

Lula bristled, automatically on the defensive. "My Stella is a good girl." She chose not to mention Caron.

"These are godless times, Mrs. Andrews."

"I'll drink to that!" Then she remembered who she was talking to.

There was a long, awkward silence until the phone rang. Relieved, Lula fairly ran to the phone and picked it up. "Oh, Myron!" There was a pause as her husband spoke. "Miss Roth is here." Another pause. "I'll get rid of her."

"I have something here, Mrs. Andrews, that I think you might profit from," began Angela, but Lula cut her off.

"Mrs. Andrews, I would like to donate ten." She paused. "_Twenty_ dollars." She offered Angela two bills.

"I see," she replied, her face cold. As she walked out, she seemed to rethink. Spinning around, she raised a hand. "I pray that you find Jesus!"

«§Ж§»

Garfield Logan, a kid with green eyes and a bad attitude, was biking. He was humming, _Scooby Doo, Where Are You?_ under his breath. When he saw Raven, he brightened and stuck out his tongue. "Hey, it's Satan's Daughter! Ole Creepy Crow!"

_Stupid beastly brat._ She wished he would fall and break his head.

Biking in front of her, he chanted, "Creepy Crow, Creepy Crow!"

She stared at him with smoking rage.

The bike fell over and landed on him. Raven walked on, the sound of his wails echoing behind her.


End file.
